Category: Internet

Net Neutrality – People who are new to the Internet, this term probably doesn’t mean much. To people like Glenn Beck, it means nothing but something else to lord over the President’s head. To small bloggers like myself, it means freedom.

Back in April, I discussed Net Neutrality and its importance. I mentioned then, as I’m mentioning now, that both Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are against Net Neutrality. The difference between then and now is that then, I didn’t think that within days Net Neutrality would go away and vanish forever and now I do.

For those who don’t know, the Internet is a vast maze of servers. Each ISP – Internet Service Provider – has a certain amount of bandwidth that it provides each customer. There are tiered systems to how fast the customer can get on the Internet. I don’t have a problem with this. This is how ISPs make money.

On the other side of the coin are the Internet content providers – in other words, people like me, as well as YouTube, CNN, Fox News, etc. Some of us charge you, the consumer, for the content and some of us don’t. Some of us only make money from the ads that appear on our sites.

ISPs, such as Verizon and AT&T, want the Internet content providers to pay them money to have our content get priority. In other words, I pay them money and they let me drive in the fast lane. I don’t pay them money and my site is sitting behind the slow driver who has had their right blinker on for the last ten miles.

And, you – the consumer – lose.

You lose the ability to read the sites you want to read, when you want to read them. Traffic will flow the way the ISPs want it to flow. For example, if someone wanted to start a new site like YouTube, with the deal that is days away from being signed by Verizon and Google (which owns YouTube), well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be worth their while. Verizon would merely put the traffic to YouTube’s rival site in the slow lane with me.

And, that’s exactly how it will be for everything. Looking for a campground? Well, the only ones you’ll find are the ones who were able to pay for that extra boost – to Verizon and AT&T. Do you want to order a video game? Well, Amazon paid more than GameStop, so guess where your traffic is going?

Net Neutrality isn’t a partisan issue, like Beck and Limbaugh want you to believe. It is a freedom issue. It is about greed. You all ready pay your ISP. I pay a web hosting company and my ISP. Why should I have to pay YOUR ISP so you can view my site? How is that fair?

And, think about it, this could affect elections. Every politician has a website, if only the incumbent has enough money to buy the right to be in the fast lane, you’ll never reach his opponent’s website.

Is that what you want?

I know online petitions don’t really work too well, but I’m hoping that Google and Verizon will change their minds about this deal. Here is the link to the petition.

You need to contact your Congressman and your Senator. We need the FCC to have the right to put a stop to this.

I just received a message from Media Matters regarding the Right Wing and Net Neutrality. Apparently, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh suffer from Obama Derangement Syndrome. They both have a serious case of it, because they are convinced that Net Neutrality is a BAD thing and that is simply not true.

The big communications companies don’t want Net Neutrality. They want to charge me more in order to have their customers come visit my blog and they want to charge consumers more for reading my blog. And, my blog is just a sample. Beck and Limbaugh will be heard because they have big contracts and a lot of money backing them. People like me will not be heard, because I can’t afford to pay Comcast, AT&T and Verizon more money to obtain readers. I’m not that dedicated as a blogger to charge for content and I happen to believe that free speech means it should be FREE.

This is one of those few issues where the Christian Coalition and the ACLU actually AGREE. They both know that if someone decides to put up roadblocks to sites, democracy will be in trouble.

Maybe, you don’t agree with one blog I’ve ever posted. Maybe, you hate my guts, as I know at least two people out there do. Maybe, you think I should die a horrible and terrifying death — and, maybe, you’re right. Maybe, I’m the awful person YOU think I am, but the First Amendment guarantees me the right to free speech. I pay for the hosting of this website. I pay for my Internet access. I shouldn’t have to pay YOUR Internet provider to have my blog come up in search engines or have people visit.

YOU shouldn’t have to pay to have YOUR blog read, either.

That is what Net Neutrality defends against.

Don’t listen to Glenn and Rush on this issue — Contact the FCC and let them know YOU support Net Neutrality. Read up on it on your own.

You can start here: http://free.convio.net/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=437